The Circle
by Hkokuryuha
Summary: Harry is abused at the Dursley's. He runs away at age five. He lives on the streets until he is thirteen and goes to Calyx Academy. independent!Harry dark!Harry vampire!Harry.
1. Running

**The Circle**

****

Disclaimer: I own nothing...thank you for not suing.

'_Thoughts'_

** Parsletounge **

Mind Speech

"**Foreign Language"**

Chapter 1: Fleeing

A/N: I have decided to make a few changes to this chapter some of which are going to be important later on in the story so please re-read this if you only read the original. Sorry for the inconvenience but I think it will improve the story in the long run.

**Vernon PoV:**

Work had been hard that day, his boss had been showing a prospective client around and it had been up to Vernon to make sure everything looked good. Right now he just wanted to get home to see his wife and son. He had been so busy at work the past week that he hadn't really had time to spend with his family and felt like making it up to them with a nice family outing that weekend. A trip to the zoo for Dudley and then a nice diner was what his family needed. It would also be nice to have a break from that freak of a nephew he had. Maybe we can lock him in the cupboard for the weekend. His plans made he pulled up to the drive way where he heard a scream. Jumping out of the car ran to the door and flung it open to see his wife pulling their son to her side and backing away from the kitchen.

"What's wrong Pet? Why did you scream?" Vernon asked pulling his son to him and looking at his wife.

He didn't like seeing his wife like this. He was a proud man and one of the things he was most proud of was the fact that he could protect his family from anything, even the freaky things his nephew seemed to be doing more often. So when she pointed to the kitchen and he found that he could see her entire arm shake, he got angry. Knowing it was either an intruder, which was unlikely, or his nephew he went and grabbed a switch that was leaning against the wall. The switch was always there for Petunia to use incase his nephew got out of control and he wasn't around. Looking at his son, he could see tears of pure fear streaming down the boy's face and that was one thing that he promised himself he would never see again, no matter what it took.

Pulling his wife and son out pf the room he had them wait in the living room. He made Petunia comfortable on the couch with a small throw and she pulled Dudley up onto her lap. His son curled into his wife and she clung to him like she would lose him otherwise.

As he approached the hall again he heard his wife mumble a prayer. _'That's odd. I don't think I've ever heard her pray.'_ Vernon thought. He continued on to the kitchen and stopped short at the sight of his nephew, a five year old boy. Sometimes Vernon found himself forgetting exactly what his nephew was, especially after seeing his own son. It was in these rare occasions that he would feel such disappointment when the boy finally showed him once again that no matter how many beatings he gave the boy, he was still one of those freaks. But it was the thought of his own son that brought his mind back to the present.

"What did you do this time that scared your Aunt and cousin so bad? You didn't do anything freaky did you?" He asked, hoping that for once it wasn't and thinking that maybe he had finally gotten it out of the boy.

The boy looked down at his feet and then he nodded indicating that was he did do something freaky. Vernon started getting angry. _'How dare this brat use his freakish magic on my perfectly normal family? Especially after all we have done for him. I have tried to keep him normal but he just throws it all in my face with his freakishness.'_ He knew he would have to figure out exactly what it was the boy had done before he could punish him because usually if he punished the boy for a specific act then he wouldn't repeat it ever again. Since this time his wife and son had been really scared, he would have to make sure that nothing like this ever happened again. That meant that his weekend plans were going to have to be put on hold till he could straighten the boy out.

"Alright Boy, tell me exactly what happened and then I'll decide what to do with you."

The boy nodded his head and straightened his posture a little bit though he still didn't meet Vernon's gaze. _No he learned that lesson quickly. Now at least he knows how to show proper respect to his betters._

"I'm sorry sir. I didn't mean to scare anyone. I was weeding the garden when I found Cora. She was cold so I invited her in and warmed her up." The boy said staring at his chest.

'_Cora? I don't remember anyone by that name living around here.'_ He looked at the boy to check if he was lying but knew right away that the child wouldn't risk the added punishment. Checking the kitchen he couldn't see anyone or any evidence of anyone else having been in the room aside from a towel that was on the floor.

"Where is this Cora person? I want to talk to them."

"She's right here sir."

The boy had started shaking, he was obviously terrified and that usually meant he knew he was going to get a bad punishment. Vernon looked to where the boy was reaching and saw the towel that had been placed on the floor. The boy lifted one side gently and started making strange hissing noises which were returned from inside the towel. He paled as he saw the small snake that was pulled, hissing all the while with his nephew, out of the cloth.

Now he had noticed quite a few odd traits his nephew seemed to have and while he certainly discouraged them as much as was possible he had never been outright afraid of the boy. Seeing the five year old hissing to a snake and then hearing the snake hiss back was quite a shock and Vernon was proud of himself for not fainting. He took one look at the boy and realized that no matter what he did he would never be able to change the fact that his nephew was a freak. It seemed that he just couldn't beat it out of the boy. So he decided to do the only next logical thing that came to his mind. If he couldn't beat the freakish behavior out of the boy then he would bleed it out of him, either that or bleed him till he was dead. With his families safety secure he would be content no matter which way it turned out.

Walking over to the boy he grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him downstairs to the basement. The basement had become the Punishment Room for his nephew ever since the boy started misbehaving, which was a few day after arriving. The walls had all been redone so they were sound proof while the door had been re-done so that there were eight different locks on it. At first that had only been so they wouldn't the boy crying when he was left down there for the night after a switching. Eventually though it became necessary so that no one heard his screams from the increased punishment. The boy only got a swat on the behind and a missed meal at first when he did something wrong but soon they realized that what he was doing was impossible and so they agreed to increase his punishment until he ceased his freakish behavior. The punishments soon went from a simple spanking or a skipped meal to a switching or several days without food. But the behavior never stopped and it wasn't long before he started receiving beatings for misbehaving. Within two months of his arrival they stopped feeding the boy altogether and he would usually be punished abut once a week if not more regularly.

It was harsh, he knew that, but it was necessary to help the boy be more normal. Now though the boy had gone too far by bringing his devil work into the house. Seeing that the snake was still in the boy's hands he grabbed a knife and quickly cut the snake's head off. The boy gasped at seeing this but just lowered his head and silenced himself.

Vernon tied the boy to the chain hanging from the ceiling and used him as a punching bag. After a while he decided that the boy wouldn't be able to resist very much and strapped him down to the floor. He took his knife out of his pocket and told the boy what he was going to do.

"I am going to cut your wrists and let you bleed out. You'll lose consciousness after a while but that's ok. I want you to know that I'm doing this to help you. If this works then you will be normal like me and everyone else. If it doesn't then you are going to die. Do you understand?" Vernon asked.

The small boy had started shaking and was now in a state of panic. When he didn't get and answer he drew back his fist and hit the boy in the face, repeating the question. The boy nodded his head while tears pooled in his big green eyes. Vernon had always hated those eyes. They always seemed just a touch bit unnatural.

Once he got the answer he wanted he took his knife and ran it deeply into the boy's arm from the crook of his elbow to the beginning of his palm and then repeated the gesture on the other arm. _'God he's just a child. What am I doing? I have to do this. This…all of this is for him, so that he can be normal. He will thank me one day.'_ He stared at the blood for a few minutes before nodding to himself and walking up the stairs.

He went straight from the stairs to the bathroom for a shower. He needed to get the blood off. After the shower he came downstairs and greeted his family who had tried to go on with their day. His son was watching the telly in the living room so he went in and picked him up.

"Daddy!" His son yelled and ran to him.

"Hey there, how's my boy today?"

Vernon was glad that he couldn't see any traces of the earlier tears on his son's face. All he could see was the smile that made his whole face glow. The two walked into the dinning room just as Petunia came in with the last dish of food for dinner. She smiled at him and walked up for a kiss.

"Perfect timing dear, dinner is ready."

They all sat down and started dishing out food.

Break

* * *

_"Thanks so much for showing me the forest." _A little boy hissed.

_"Of course young one, I should be thanking you for allowing me to have your mice and share your warmth."_ A little green snake hissed back.

Normally holding a conversation with a snake would cause some people to question their sanity but such was not the case for this special little boy. All his life he had been able to understand and talk to snakes so he never questioned why. He just knew that he could and that it was something that would cause his relatives to hate him even more. Not wanting to be hated even more he hid it just like he hid the fact that he drank blood. At first he had tried just eating things that his relatives did but not only did he get punished for it he was also never full.

One of the nights he was locked in the basement he got so hungry that he couldn't think straight and broke the only window. He climbed out and attacked the neighbour's dog. It was strange because even though it was pitch black outside he could see almost perfectly. The smells expanded as soon as he left had broken the window. The grass and trees had their own unique smell while the other houses all had a certain stench coming from them. He somehow knew that there was a nest of birds above him as well. He could also hear a lot of things. He heard crickets and birds chirping and frogs croaking and suddenly much closer he could hear something beating. Fangs a little longer and a lot sharper then his canine teeth grew out from in front of his regular teeth. He sniffed the air real quick and headed towards the neighbours yard. Stopping on the edge of their lawn he looked around until he noticed the dog. It was a golden retriever. The family had bought it for their son on his eighth birthday. He approached the dog cautiously but as he got closer the beating got louder and he could smell the warmth, he lost control and sank his newly acquired fangs into the dog's neck draining it of all its blood. After he got over the fact that he had killed the dog he realized that he wasn't hungry anymore. He had been two years old at the time and didn't know what to do so he ran back to the basement until morning where he was punished for breaking the window. After that he found was to get blood even if he had to use several different rats to do it.

The boy, called Boy or It by his relatives, just got used to the fact that he was different. He thought his relatives were right and he was a freak so he wasn't disturbed by the differences. When he had to find food he found that he had certain abilities that his cousin didn't. All of his senses were enhanced and he had better agility and stamina then he should though he didn't really know this since his cousin was also a lot bigger then he was so he thought it was because of that. He also found out that he was stronger and faster then he should be. He could outrun all of the other kids when they tried to gang up on him. Boy made sure never to get too far ahead as it was considered freakish to do so and he had been severely punished afterwards the one time he had. These other abilities helped him to eat so he never thought of them as bad though he made sure that he never showed them to his relatives.

Looking back at the snake Boy nodded. He explained that it wasn't a problem since he needed larger prey now anyways. At first he could eat a few mice through out the day and be ok now he had moved up to bigger things like rabbits and foxes.

"Were you just hissing at that snake? I'm going to tell my mommy!" His cousin yelled.

Boy winced at that. Usually he knew when people were coming but this time he had been too deep in thought and conversation. His Aunt started screaming and he knew he was in trouble. His Aunt came running down the stairs demanding to know what he had been doing. Upon seeing the snake her face went white and she grabbed his cousin. She started backing them up so they were headed out of the kitchen. Not wanting to get in too much trouble Boy picked the snake up and tried to tell his Aunt that it was harmless while telling Cora, the snake, not to bite. Unfortunately she just screamed and Dudley at seeing his mum's reaction and a snake coming at his face started crying. At that moment his Uncle pulled up and Boy knew there was going to be hell to pay for upsetting his Aunt and Cousin so much.

Hearing the front door slam open he knew there was nothing to do except wait so he sat down as his Uncle got his Aunt and cousin to the living room. He heard his Uncle walk into the kitchen but he stopped short at the sight of Boy. Boy was wondering why his Uncle was confused when the man started asking him questions. '_Oh_.' He thought. _'They must not have said anything.'_ But his Uncle had asked if he had done anything freaky and so he looked at the ground. _'Well maybe they did say something and he's just testing me.'_ Boy wasn't so sure anymore since they had done that before. Tested him to see if he would lie to them, he had only done it once and he would never do it again. So he nodded his head while looking at the floor like he had been taught to do in the presence of his betters. He explained what had happened and when his Uncle asked to see Cora he bent down and picked her up.

After his Uncle had beaten him he realized that he was being strapped down. He looked around for a minute before he came to the conclusion that it must be the straps on the floor as they were the only thing in the room designed to keep him down. It was then that he remembered that it had been a few days since he had last eaten and with all of the blood loss he was starved. He hoped that he could control himself but then he heard what his Uncle was saying and forgot all about eating.

"I am going to cut your wrists and let you bleed out. You'll lose consciousness after a while but that's ok. I want you to know that I'm doing this to help you. If this works then you will be normal like me and everyone else. If it doesn't then you are going to die. Do you understand?" Vernon asked.

Boy looked at his Uncle and saw the knife in his hand and promptly began shaking. He was so scared of what might happen that he didn't even realize that he hadn't answered his Uncle's question. **_SMACK!_** He looked up at his Uncle as he repeated his question and not wanting to get hit again nodded his head.

His Uncle looked satisfied with that answer and moved to his left arm with the knife. He felt a stinging sensation near the inside of his elbow and then a burning sensation running down his forearm. The process was quickly repeated on his right arm and then his Uncle sat back. He could feel his Uncle's eyes on him but he didn't really care at the moment. He didn't know what to do, he had heard his Uncle leave and now he was alone. It hurt to move his arms so he just laid there and cried.

Break

* * *

The family meal went on like the beatings happened regularly and unfortunately they did. No one commented on the younger boy's absence, not even the six year old little boy that was sitting with his parents. The boy was probably only silent because his face was stuffed with food from dinner. As the meal ended however Petunia broke the silent agreement and mentioned It.

"Dear I know we don't like to talk about the Boy but I just wanted to thank you for coming home and taking care of It for me. I don't know what I would of done if you hadn't been here. I mean really, talking to a snake, what could I have done?"

Vernon nodded to his wife and tried to reassure her that nothing like that would ever happen again. He told her to put Dudley to bed and that he would probably be downstairs for a few more hours. She agreed and cleaned up dinner before taking and putting their son to bed. She went to bed shortly after that and then Vernon went downstairs.

As soon as he made it down the stairs he turned on the boy. Vernon wanted to make sure he was still alive. Boy was lying in a pool of his own blood but it looked like he was still alive, if only just barely. He decided to see if the boy still had his freakish tendencies or not and un-strapped him. Vernon went to the boy and unhooked his legs then his waist and then each arm. As soon as the last strap was un-hooked Boy latched onto Vernon's neck. Boy was too hungry to realize what he was doing and just latched on to feed knowing that he was starving. As Boy drained the blood from his Uncle the wounds on his body became less and less visible until all that remained were scars along his arms. Vernon started pounding on the boy to make the child let him go but as soon as he felt it Boy released a type of paralysis venom into his Uncle. The man lay there as his five year old nephew drained him of his blood and upon realization of what he had done the boy fled up the stair and into the darkness outside.

Break

He was scared. It had been the first time he had fed off of a human. Boy thought that it would have tasted better if his Uncle wasn't so fat. He realized that he couldn't go back now that he had killed his Uncle and that if he stayed around Surrey then the police would probably find him. So he just continued running. He ran until he was too tired to run anymore and then he walked.

So what do you think? Is it better or worse then the way I had it originally? Questions, comments, suggestions all are welcome. Please review.


	2. The Streets

**The Circle**

Disclaimer: I own nothing...thank you for not suing.

'_Thoughts'_

**Parsletounge **

Mind Speech

"**Foreign Language"**

Chapter 2: The Streets

Not having a home anymore was tougher then Boy thought it would be. At his relatives he had relied on them for everything from keeping people away to telling him what to do when. It was really confusing and he didn't know what to do with his time. Knowing that he had to keep moving he only stopped to rest briefly when he couldn't go on any further. When he started getting tired he would begin looking for some sort of shelter that he could stay in for a few hours. Usually he could find an abandon alley to rest in but occasionally he had to share with others. Boy quickly found out that rules on the street were different then anything he had heard of before.

Sometimes when he thought that one of the people that approached him was nice it turned out the complete opposite and he found himself in a bad position. The nice ones were the ones you really had to keep an eye on. They were good at tricking people and Boy found himself falling for their lies a few times. He decided that the only way to make sure he didn't fall for people's lies anymore was to assume that everyone was lying. With his new outlook he found it easier to avoid problems with the other inhabitants of the streets.

At first Boy wasn't sure what he would eat, while he had no need for regular food he still needed a fresh supply of blood. He could always find rats on the streets and usually there was a stray dog or cat but he knew that with the colder weather approaching that would change. He would need to find something else to eat soon. A man saw him in an alley when he was resting and had tried to take his coat. Since he had just gotten the coat off of the man who was there before him, Boy didn't want to give it up. Normally he ran from anyone he came across since he was faster then them. He hadn't been able to find anything to eat except for a few rats and that had been two days ago, he was so hungry that he could barely move. The man managed to him pin him to the concrete and was trying to get the coat off of his arms. Just as the coat left his back his hunger kicked into overdrive and he latched on around the man's shoulders. His fangs slid from his gums like knives sliding out of sheathes and sank into the man's fleshy neck. As soon as the man started to resist Boy released the paralysis venom like he had with his uncle. The man went limp and fell to the ground with Boy still clinging to his chest.

Boy clung to him until the man was dead. Springing up Boy looked around to make sure no one had seen anything. When he was sure that there was nobody around, he looked back at the man. _'Oh no, I did it again. I killed him.'_ Boy felt horrible for killing the man. He had never wanted to kill anyone, now though he had killed his uncle and this man. Both just innocent people, his uncle had just wanted to teach him how to behave and this man had only wanted to stay warm. Now he knew for sure that he could never go back to his aunt. He was a monster and he didn't deserve to be in her presence anymore. He would keep them safe by staying on the streets, that way he could never hurt them. Feeling better he picked up the coat and put it back on before proceeding to strip the man of any valuables he had. Finding a decent looking knife he looked back at the man and noticed that he had left a pretty distinctive mark on the man's neck. He knew that he had left the same mark on his uncle and he didn't want the two to be connected at all so he took the knife cut the man's neck in a few places.

Shelter was starting to be almost as much of a problem as food was. At his relatives he had always had his cupboard or the basement. He knew that to keep them safe he would have to stop thinking of them as _his_ relatives. They were normal and deserved to have a normal life without him. So Boy focused all of himself on learning the rules of the street quickly so he could survive. He figured out that the police weren't people he wanted to mess with so he avoided them. The one time they had got a hold of him they had tried to take him back to his aunt. That was right after he killed the man who had tried to take his coat. They looked for him for two weeks but eventually gave him up for dead. Boy would never forget how close he came to screwing up his aunt's life again. He swore to himself that he would do anything to protect her from his freakish nature.

He practiced for three weeks on how to feed from animals by slightly draining their blood but leaving enough for them to live. It took a few tries and it varied depending on how big the animal was but he could finally do it. He also learned how to feed without killing a person it was a lot like the animals except he had to make sure that the person didn't remember seeing him. The first time he tried the person died. The second time they didn't die but they lost their whole memory instead of just memories of him. So the third time he drank he tried real hard to make the person forget they ever saw him but made sure they could remember everything else. He looked straight in their eyes and concentrated as hard as he could on them forgetting just him. Amazingly enough it worked and the person seemed confused about what had happened during the last hour or so of the day. He found that it didn't fill him up as much though so he had to feed from two different people.

His first few months on the streets were hard. He had trouble with so much freedom since he had never had any before. Not sure what to do he kept moving from place to place. Soon though he settled down a little and he stayed longer then a few days in any one place and started spending weeks in a single place.

He had noticed it starting to get colder and colder over the past few weeks and eventually realized that he would have to find some kind of shelter soon. He had been sleeping under the sky in alleyways and parks and knew that he couldn't continue to do so for much longer. It took him a few days but he found a warehouse where other people were staying and went there. The people living there didn't want to share their home though and chased him out whenever he got anywhere near it. He knew from experience of watching similar places that he would have to find the person in charge and make himself useful otherwise he would freeze on the streets. There was a man that everybody seemed to listen to even though he was only in his early twenties. Boy thought that they respected the man since they did what he told them to. Boy approached him and since he didn't know what else to do and told the man that he would do anything if the man let him stay.

"Please sir, I'll do anythin' ya want. Anythin, just please let me stay. It's so cold outside. You don't even have ta feed me, I can get my own food." Boy pleaded.

The man considered him for a while and then started questioning what he could do that would make him useful. Boy didn't know what he could do that would make the man happy. So Boy told him that he would do anything the man wanted and that he learned real fast. The man asked him if he meant it because he didn't want to help boy if he was just going to go back on his word later. Boy told him that he meant it and that he would do anything the man told him to. After getting a promise out of Boy the man said that he could stay and introduced himself as Jay. Boy smiled brightly at Jay and said his name was London. He thought that there would be no way he could be connected to his aunt now and she would finally be safe.

Jay took London over to the other people in the warehouse and told them that he was allowed in and would be staying with him. He also said something else that had London confused at first. Jay had told everyone that London belonged to him and if anyone touched him there would be trouble. London was confused at first but just assumed that Jay was trying to protect him. Once it was clear that London belonged to Jay though everyone stayed away from him. At first London was relieved but then he found out why the others stayed away. They were all scared of Jay. It turned out that the man was mean.

His Uncle had only ever tried to help him so he was quite unused to the fact that this man wanted to hurt him and use his body. Jay on the other hand loved the fact that London was new to this type of behavior since it meant he got to introduce the boy to everything and train him ho he wanted the boy to behave. He took every opportunity to flaunt London. He would make London give him public blow jobs and then pick a few random people out and have the boy do things to them as well. Whenever someone came by looking to collect on a debt that Jay owed he would have London either service them or if they weren't into that then the person could borrow him for the day for whatever they wanted.

London hated having to live like he did. He soon learned to just hate _people_ in general. From his time staying with his relatives he knew how to keep his emotions in check but when he got on the streets he found it was better to just get rid of them all together. That way no matter what happened to him it was just physical pain and sometimes mental pain as well but he knew from experience that they were nothing compared to the emotional pains he had gotten rid of.

While Jay enjoyed his body he also knew that London could be used for other things. London learned how to play people, pickpocket and sometimes he was just sold out for the day to do whatever the person wanted. Since London was so good looking even at a young age he was often rented out. Jay even had him kill people on occasion though that was rare because it drew too much attention from the cops.

It took until half way through the winter that marked his second year with Jay for London to realize that while he might still get cold, he was in no way going to die from exposure. He had been injured during a fight and decided to rest on the street for a while instead of heading straight back. Falling asleep he ended up staying there for the night. When he woke up he was stiff and covered in snow. Realizing that he should of died he decided to try the same thing that night to see if it was just a fluke. Fortunately he did survive and decided that he wanted to live on his own instead of with Jay. He took his time repaying Jay for his hospitality before leaving. It took three days for Jay to finally die but London was already gone by then.

After his past experiences he avoided people. He kept on the move never stopping for long. Along the way he learned a lot about himself. He already knew he was different because he drank blood but he found that he could also make things happen if he really wanted them to. Like if he concentrated then he could open a locked door or make something disappear into nothing or appear when nothing was there before. Being able to do these things made his life easier and eventually he didn't have to concentrate as hard to have the things happen. If he just practiced them then he could do them easier and faster and it didn't take as much energy out of him.

London spent the next few years trying to avoid people, except when he was hungry, and learning everything he could. He soon found that it was nearly impossible to avoid everyone so he settled on avoiding as many as he could and scaring the rest off. It took him a few years to get his abilities under control but when he finally did he became very dangerous. Before he wouldn't use them in a fight because it drained a lot of his energy and sometime it didn't work or if it did work then it wasn't always what he wanted to happen. Now though they always worked and it barely took any energy unless he used them a lot.

Since he didn't need food he never got the malnourished look that the other street kids got and he had developed lean muscles from always getting into fights and being on the move so much so he wasn't hassled as much by the cops. He was always dressed in good quality clothes since he was such a good pickpocket and he figured out that one of his abilities helped him keep clean when he couldn't get a hotel so nobody would ever guess that he lived on the streets from his looks. He got a nice traveling bag to keep his extra clothes and food in but it soon got full. When he was trying to stuff a little bit more into it his hand suddenly fell deeper into the bag. Somehow the bag had gotten a lot bigger but when he looked on the outside it still looked the same. He shook his head and figured that it was one of his abilities. He managed to fit a lot more things into his bag now so he was happy with the results.

When he was around thirteen a man and a woman approached him at a café and said that they wanted to talk to him. The first thing he noticed about them was there weird accent. London had never heard it before.

"I am Amri Shaw and this lovely lady is Vivian Loashan. We wanted to talk to you because we can sense that you need help. We work at a school and thought that you might like to come with us and enroll there. The school is a boarding school located in America. You would be living on school grounds with the other students and while the school is year round there are breaks where you can visit your family."

While the man had been talking London had been studying the pair. He could smell that the woman was like him in some way so he wasn't too worried about her. The man on the other hand had him on edge. It took him a minute to realize why but when he did London nearly hit the man. His eyes, they were exactly the same shade of brown as Jay's had been and it made him angry. Even after all these years it only took something like the shade of someone's eyes to remember that monster. London had always hated Jay's eyes. The man could give him so many different commands with them that he never need to speak especially when they were having sex. London knew that even though this man had light brown almost blond hair instead of Jay's reddish color he would never be comfortable around him. So instead of even trying he turned his attention to the woman who had yet to say anything.

"London." He said nodding to them. "Interestin' as all of this is, what makes you think I need help least of all _yours_."

Vivian's golden eyes widened in surprise at being addressed by anyone and she looked toward Amri for his input. He looked just as surprised as her but nodded for her to continue. She dropped the bored expression she had before London addressed her and a look of curiosity came over her face as she answered him.

"Well, we know that you need help because we can sense your magic. While I don't know how you we're turned without your sire realizing you were a wizard, they have obviously not trained you. You need our help because without proper training your magic will kill you and probably anyone around you when it finally gets out of control. We can help train you with your magic and on how you to behave properly as a vampire."

Nodding London was silent while he tried to process everything. He had already guessed about being magical but he hadn't known that it could kill him. He was also surprised when she offered to teach him how to behave properly as he had given up that particular dream a few years after he was on the streets. It seemed a bit too good to be true so he was cautious. But he also knew that Vivian was like him and she was obviously well behaved enough to be let outside so he thought it might be worth it. _'Besides if they turn out like Jay then I can always kill them.'_

"Okay guess I can accept that. So how do we get to this school of yours?"

Amri smiled at him and reached over to pat him on the back but found himself pinned to the wall with a snarling vampire at his throat. London had reacted too quickly for him to do anything. Luckily Vivian was there and she tried to calm London down before doing anything more drastic.

"Whoa there, what's wrong?"

"If he tries to touch me again I will kill him."

London glared at Amri a bit before letting go of him and backing away to sit down again. Vivian looked between the two before sitting down herself while Amri remained standing trying to catch his breath. He didn't seem to want to be anywhere near the boy and went to stand next to Vivian.

"Look I'm sorry for whatever I did that's made you mad. It wasn't my intention to upset you."

London let out an animalistic growl as the man made his apology. Amri looked frightened and immediately sat down next to Vivian. Vivian however had noticed that it has more from frustration then anything else. She looked between the two and decided she had better fix it before they went to the school.

"I get the feeling that it isn't Amri that you're angry with. Why don't you tell us what is wrong and we can see if we can fix it ok?"

London looked at Vivian wondering if he should tell them when he caught sight of Amri, the man looked so sad that he decided he should try to do something before he killed the man.

"Well your right it isn't your friend that I am angry with. Unfortunately there is nothin to be done about it so it's best if we stayed away from each other until I can get a better handle on my anger. I err…I'm sorry for…the problems it might cause."

Vivian smiled at the suddenly less confident boy and then looked towards Amri who seemed to be feeling better now that he knew he hadn't done anything wrong. It had been a surprise to both of them when London had started talking to her instead of Amri. All the children took to Amri like he was their favorite uncle. Even the non-human ones liked him. They had both thought it was going to be the same this time round but found it was more like when they had picked up another boy London's age. That boy had been friendly to both of them but had definitely been more comfortable around Vivian. Considering that boys past it didn't bode well for London. Just to be sure she asked him to take them to his house so they could inform his parents and/or sire about the school.

"Oh, my parents are dead and I don't know where my sire is. I live on the streets so there ain't really anyone to talk to about me leavin'."

Amri looked at the boy with pity and reflexively reached out to comfort the boy. Vivian grabbed his arm and apologized to London who had tensed up. She just nodded her head and said that they would take him to the school then if it was what he wanted. He told her to lead the way and they all set off to find somewhere quiet.

They walked a few blocks away from the café and found an empty alley. Amri pulled a small ceramic figurine, which he explained was a portkey, out of a pouch hooked to his belt. He told them to touch the figurine and when he was sure they were all touching it he said 'lattice'. London felt a pulling sensation somewhere behind his naval and suddenly he wasn't in the alley anymore. Looking around he saw that they were in an average size room with white walls and a white carpet. One of the walls had a large fireplace in the middle and in front of the fireplace was a black couch with two cozy looking black chairs on either side.

Vivian explained that it was the Academy's portkey room. All portkeys were locked onto the room and while it had a fireplace it was not connected to the floo network, there were also anti-apparition wards on the Academy. They explained that it was the only way for anyone to get into the Academy. Amri told London that the couch and chairs were for people to wait in and that sometimes people would come here to relax since it was quiet.

"Welcome to Calyx Academy." Vivian said with a smile. "This is a school for people to learn magic, were anyone is welcome. Here at the Academy you can pick what you want to study though you will have to study certain core classes with everyone else. There are many different species that attend the Academy so there are some rules that absolutely have to be obeyed. They will be explained to you later so don't worry."

Vivian and Amri led London out of the room and down the corridor. The Academy had stone walls with paintings and tapestries along them and a soft black carpet on the floor. He was led through a few hallways until they came to a door and Vivian turned to him. She told him that this was the Headmistresses office and if he ever needed help then he should come here. Amri knocked on the door and waited for the soft 'enter' before opening the door.

TBC…Well what do you think? I finished the re-write yay! Please review and tell me if this is any better. Thank you!


	3. Headmistress

**The Circle**

Disclaimer: I own nothing...thank you for not suing.

'_Thoughts'_

**Parsletounge **

Mind Speech

"**Foreign Language"**

A/N: Sorry for the wait but I had to re-write the first two chapters. Thanks for all of the support. And a special thanks to Oblivious Wonder for the writing tips. I really appreciate it.

PS: I noticed that I made the mistake of calling Anna a human and I just fixed it. I apologize for that. To clarify she is an undine a type of water elemental.

Chapter 3: Headmistress

Anna was getting tired of her professor's fighting. She had always thought that a little friendly rivalry was a good thing but the two professors in front of her had let it get out of hand once again. While she had no idea what this particular fight was about, as she had stopped listening a while ago, she did know that the reason behind all of their fights was the same. The reason they always argued was because they were attracted to each other though neither one of them would admit it.

She knew she shouldn't get angry at the two professors, especially since it wasn't their fault. Normally she would just tell the two to grow up and either get together or get over it but these weren't normal circumstances.

Their bickering was frustrating Anna and she had just decided to do something about it when a knock came at her door. She was surprised to say the least. Everyone knew to stay away from the Headmistress's office when the two professors' in front of her were arguing. She looked to the two now silent professors in front of her to see if they had been expecting anyone but saw they were as surprised as she was. She wondered who it could be._ 'Well only one way to find out.'_

"Enter."

As soon as the word left her mouth the door swung open to reveal two more professors and a young boy. _'Hmm…No I don't think I recognize him. They must have found him while they were out.'_ She looked them over then gestured for them to enter. The boy looked like a normal pre-teen child, maybe a little better looking then most but she didn't really think much of him until he looked at her. Her whole attention was caught up in his eyes. They were the same color as the killing curse. It surprised and for some reason frightened her at the same time.

She hadn't realized she'd been staring until one of the others coughed lightly. Looking around she noticed that everyone was already seated. Deciding to find out what was needed of her she looked towards the man that had walked in with the boy. Amri always had a way with kids and he would have already developed a connection with the boy.

"Well Amri why don't you introduce us to your knew friend?"

Amri looked from her to the boy and then surprisingly to Vivian and then back to the boy. He looked almost lost which confused Anna. The man was a natural with children and always knew the right thing to do but here he was looking to Vivian for advice. Finally she turned to Vivian and arched an eyebrow. Sighing Vivian explained the problem.

"Right, well, first off this is London. London this is the Headmistress Anna, over there is the Defense professor Shane and next to him is Gin the Light Magic professor. Shane is a werewolf and Gin is an Elf and Anna is an undine. By the way London happens to be a vampire so I would be careful who you room him with. As for Amri, well it would be best if we could find somebody else for the boy to talk to if he needs it."

Anna was a bit surprised at the last part. She had never met a child that didn't like Amri.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you London. While I may be the Headmistress most people just call me Anna as I hope you will do as well. Now let's see what do I need to know now?" Anna rummaged around in her desk until she came up with a piece of parchment. "Ah. Here we are. Now, how old are you?"

"Thirteen I think."

London's answer made Anna pause. She looked up at him and started questioning him.

"You think? Don't you know how old you are?"

"No. No one ever told me but thirteen would be my best guess."

Anna stopped for a minute to look over at Amri who had grimaced and Vivian who seemed to find nothing wrong with the statement. Apparently there was something that they knew that she should also.

"Vivi care to fill me in on whatever it is I should know?"

Vivian arched an eyebrow at the use of her nickname but nodded in compliance.

"We found London in a café. When we asked where his family was so they could be informed of his coming to the Academy we were informed that he was an orphan and lived on the streets. **He doesn't even know who his sire is. Granted he was bitten as an infant but when I get my hands on them they are going to pay. Honestly to leave a Childe in the care of muggles."**

Everyone stared at the vampire as she started went from informing the Headmistress about London to ranting in some language that none of them recognized. She didn't even seem aware of what she was doing and the others decided that it would be best to let her blow off steam instead of risk interrupting her.

"Well now that we know a bit about your past how about we figure out how much you know so we can get you what you need to study. We'll also take you to the bank to see if you have a family vault. There is no need to worry if you don't have one the school will pay for your things it's just something we do with everyone in case they come from a line of squibs or something like that."

London was glad that the Headmistress offered to have the school pay for his things. He knew that he wouldn't have a vault and didn't look forward to coming up with ways to pay for everything on his own. _'It would be worth it though. So far I've met a vampire, a werewolf, an elf, an undine and a human that while he makes me remember Jay doesn't seem too bad. I think I could end up liking it here. Well, better then the streets anyway.'_

"Hmm…Who should take you shopping? Amri is obviously out of the question and I need Vivi to stay here. I don't want to send you into town with these two as they never stop bickering but I don't think I have much of a choice at the moment. Do any of you have any objections?"

Anna asked the three almost hoping that one of them would. She loved her professors and knew that they would take care of the boy but she also knew that they were having one of their bad days. On the bad days everyone knew to stay away from them as they were known to become violent. That was why she had them in her office today.

"I don't have a problem taking the child shopping. I needed to go to town for a new book anyways." Gin answered first.

"I don't have a problem with it either. I could use the fresh air."

Having the professors answers Anna turned to London to see if he had any problems with either professor. London watched the two adults that had been in the room before him and couldn't find anything wrong with either of them. He had never really had a problem with women before and the man looked nothing like Jay so he was okay with the decision. There was tension coming off both the man and the woman but London ignored it as it wasn't any of his business.

"Like I said before I don't got no problems with nobody. Your friend just reminds me of someone I don't wanna 'member."

"Have any."

London looked over at Amri in surprise.

"What?"

"You don't have any problems. Not 'got no problems'."

London stared at Amri for a few seconds before just nodding and turning around. Amri sighed thinking he had screwed up with the boy once again. Laughter erupted on one side of the room and everyone turned to see Vivian cracking up.

"Don't worry London he does that to everyone. He teaches literature here and is a stickler for grammar."

Vivian smiled at London who looked from her to Amri. He could tell that while she found it funny she was mostly just trying to comfort her friend who looked a little lost. London knew he would have to work on his behavior towards the man but it was hard. The way he had corrected him had been absentminded and he probably did the same thing with everyone but it was a bit too much like how Jay would tell him to do something for London's comfort.

"Sorry about that. I promise that I'll try and conduct myself in a manor more befitting that of a student attending a school."

Everyone was shocked. His speech had gone from rough street slang to that of someone with a cultured accent. When he noticed the looks he shrugged and told them he had to be able to talk properly to get away from the cops. This made them send a whole new round of looks, from Amri and Anna it was pity but from the other three it was looks of understanding. London was getting irritated with the pair. He knew that they must not deal with street kids that often but really what did they expect.

"Alright! Enough with those looks the next person that looks at me like that is going to have their throat ripped out."

Vivian smiled at his pronouncement while Amri looked shocked, Anna just nodded. Anna told them that they had better get a move on if they wanted to get their shopping done before dark. As everyone was getting up to leave Anna told London that she would have someone meet him and escort him to a room for the night as soon as he got back.

The three left and Anna turned to the two that had stayed behind. Looking them over she noticed that Amri had immediately slumped back in his chair and seemed to be trying to get his breathing under control. Vivian on the other hand was sitting comfortably letting her companion calm down.

"Amri are you alright?"

"He's been a ball of nerves since we met the kid. At first it was funny but when he didn't calm down even when we got here I started getting worried. I think he just needs to relax for a bit. Not that I blame him. London was holding himself back from killing Amri every second they were around each other."

Amri and Anna both paled a bit at that. While the Academy was known as a harsh school they had never had a student so ready to kill a man like Amri before. It was a common joke among the staff that the man was part veela for his charm with the students. Amri had calmed down enough so that he was sitting normally and breathing regularly.

"I don't what I did but he isn't letting it go."

"It's not you Amri. There isn't anything that you can do about his feelings towards you except be your normal self. Though personally I would forgo touching him. He said that you reminded him of someone. Whoever that person is they hurt him. Badly. Did you see that look in his eyes when you corrected him?"

Thinking about it Amri shook his head. He had been to busy trying to breath that he hadn't even noticed he had corrected the boy until he felt the stare. He looked to Anna to see if she had noticed anything in the boy's eyes but the Headmistress shook her head as well. Vivian however had a look of disgust on her face.

"You know how some vampires keep humans for slaves?" She asked them. When she got a nod from them both she continued. "Well that was where I've seen the look. He looked just like one of the slaves. It was only for a split second and then it was gone but I know I saw it."

Both Amri and Anna were upset to here that such a young boy had been treated in such a way. They wanted to know if they could do anything to help him but Vivian had started ranting in some language they didn't recognize and knew it would be a while before she would speak to them again. Until then they decided that it would be a good time to discuss some of the problems the students were having.

Tbc…Well what do you think? Below are a few short paragraphs explaining part of the past of two of the professors. You don't have to read them for the story. They are only there if you want an actual reason for the two to be in the Headmistress' office and for their fighting.

Please review. Thank you!

* * *

Summary of Shane and Gin's past

Shane, one of the defense professors, is a werewolf. While the school and most of the school's inhabitants didn't hold many prejudices, there was an entire world out there that did. Gin, the light magic professor, had never cared about Shane being a werewolf and in fact they had been in a relationship before her family found out. They had been furious with her and had taken her back to the forests to try and sort her out. She ended up before the Council of Elvin Elders and was given the option of either breaking it off with Shane or exile, which would kill any elf. It broke her heart but she agreed and was allowed to go back to teaching at the Academy. It had been five years since they had seen each other and Shane had been worried about her. When she came back she told him that they couldn't be together anymore and that she was sorry. From then on they had fought.

It was hard on Gin to see Shane and not be able to touch him and she went into a depression because of it. She eventually got so depressed that she thought it would be better to be dead and had tried to kill herself. One of the other professors found her and she was brought to a healer. Anna had made Gin tell her everything that had happened with the Council. She told Gin that it would be best if she talked to Shane about it but Gin told her that if she did he would try to fix it and anything he did was likely to get him killed. The elves really didn't like werewolves.


	4. Mistakes and Shopping

**The Circle**

Disclaimer: I own nothing...thank you for not suing.

'_Thoughts'_

**Parsletounge **

Mind Speech

"**Foreign Language"**

A/N: I noticed that I made the mistake of calling Anna a human in the last chapter and I just fixed it. I apologize for that. To clarify she is an undine a type of water elemental. Also for those that were wondering why no one has recognized him as the boy-who-lived it will be explained in this chapter.

Chapter 4: Mistakes and Shopping

Hogwarts: 1991 (two years ago)

Albus Dumbledore was at a loss. He knew that he should have checked on the boy at least once but he really hadn't wanted to interfere with his new life and family. He thought that the boy would be safe and loved with his relatives but now he wasn't so sure. The letters for this year's acceptance to Hogwarts had already gone out and almost everyone had sent a reply, everyone but Harry Potter.

Deciding that it would be a good idea to send someone to see if there was a problem he summoned his groundkeeper, Hagrid. It took the man a few minutes to get there and in that time the Headmaster wrote a letter to Harry Potter explaining about the wizarding world and who Hagrid was. When the giant man reached the Headmaster's office he was told that there was a student who hadn't sent a reply and that he would be needed to find out what was wrong. Hagrid was more then happy to go collect the student and set off as soon as the Headmaster had given him the letter and address. Once the half giant left, Albus sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh to wait for the news on the boy-who-lived.

Hagrid arrived in Surry and quickly made his way to Privit Dr. and started his search for number four. It took him a few minutes since the houses all looked alike. Once he found it though he walked up to knock on the door. A chubby blond boy answered the door. The boy gaped up at Hagrid before running away and into what looked like the kitchen. Hagrid was a little surprised at the boy's reaction but decided to wait until an adult came to the door. He didn't have to wait for long as a small worn looking woman entered from the kitchen. The boy was nowhere to be seen but Hagrid just shrugged it off and focused on the woman.

"'Ello there, the name's Hagrid. I'm 'ere to tell Mister Potter of 'is ac'eptance to 'ogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. If you'll 'ave 'im come 'ere I can explain what 'e needs to know."

The woman's eyes bulged as he was speaking and Hagrid was starting to grow concerned for her health. As he took a step forward to see if she needed any help the woman took a step back and started shaking slightly. She looked up at him but her eyes were oddly vacant.

"The boy isn't here. He ran away six years ago and I haven't seen him since. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

Hagrid was shocked. He had never thought that Harry would run away. But there was nothing that he could do now so he asked the woman if she was alright and when he got a positive reply he headed back to Hogwarts.

When he arrived he went straight to the Headmaster's office. He was so out of it that he didn't even bother knock on the door and just went in. He stood in the doorway for a few minutes not even noticing that the people in the office where starring at him. After he got himself under control he turned towards the Headmaster.

"'E's not there 'Eadmaster. The lady, she said 'e ran away six years ago."

Hagrid just stood there looking at the Headmaster as if the man would say something and just like that everything would be fixed. Albus himself was shocked at the news and it took him a few minutes before he could respond. When he finally could he smiled at Hagrid and told the man that he appreciated the fact that he had tried. He said that he would start a search and that he was sure they would find him soon. Hagrid looked at him with shining eyes and smiled and left.

The Headmaster turned to his Professors that were still in his office and explained who it was that Hagrid was talking about. With a sigh he looked over each of the Professors and knew that he would need to do something or else everyone was going to lose hope. He told them that he was going to call a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Everyone was surprised. There hadn't been a meeting of the Order since You-Know-Who's downfall.

The Order meeting was called and people were sent out in search parties. A few days later Albus decided to see if he could get some more information from the Dursleys. He had Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape go with him. They apperated from Hogsmead to Privit Dr. and walked up to number four. Albus knocked on the door and waited until it was opened by who must have been Petunia Dursley.

"Ah, hello there, my name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts and was hoping that you would be able to tell us a bit more about your nephew's disappearance."

The woman blinked up at him and then seemed to come back to herself. She said that she didn't know anything. She had woken up one morning to find her husband dead and her nephew gone. The others were disturbed by this; they hadn't known that Vernon Dursley was dead. They went into the house and sat down in the living room where a blonde boy was playing video games. The boy, Dudley, turned and let out a squeak when he saw the three people dressed in robes.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Dudley asked his mom. "They're _freaks_. Dad wouldn't have wanted them in the house. Make them leave." The boy demanded, turning back to his game expecting the people to go away.

Albus was taken aback by the boy's tone of voice when he stressed the word 'freak'. It wasn't a good indication of their view on magic. Minerva pursed her lips while Severus glared at the boy. They decided it would be best to ask their questions after they put a mild truth spell on the woman. After the spell was complete they asked about the night that Harry disappeared. When they found she didn't know anything else they started asking questions about how she had cared for Harry. What they found out surprised disgusted them all. They were now looking for an abused boy who had probably lived on the streets for the past six years, if he had managed to escape his Uncle's murderer that is.

They all went back to Hogwarts to help with the search and prepare for the new school year. The search continued for a whole year but Harry Potter was presumed dead after that and the search called off. Of course everyone still kept an eye out just in case but there wasn't much hope of finding the boy. It saddened the entire wizarding world.

* * *

Present: (1993)

London was led through the hallways and back to the portkey room. The two professors were bickering the entire way there only stopping once they entered the room. Shane stayed with London while Gin went to a trunk that was against the far wall. Shane explained that she was looking for a portkey that would take them to Sunrae Plaza, the main shopping district in America. When Gin finally turned back towards them she was holding an empty soda can.

She strode over to them and held it out for the two to touch as well. London felt that same sensation of something pulling behind his naval and they were off. They landed in a room that appeared to be part of a shop though this one had other people in it; some were even just appearing as they had. Gin was already heading outside having put the soda can in a bin that said 'used' and Shane was waiting for him so London cut his observations short and headed towards the door.

Once outside the shop the two professors continued with their argument though a bit quieter and London had some time to look around. He was surprised to see that there were muggle shops mixed in with the wizarding ones. He had thought that Sunrae Plaza was going to be like Diagon and Knockturn Alleys with strictly wizarding shops and wizards. This Plaza seemed to be an even mix between the two worlds, there even seemed to be muggles and some that were quite obviously magical creatures among the people. He didn't know much about the wizarding world but since he lived on the streets of London he had been there a few times. And in England there was definitely a social barrier around the three groups that didn't seem to be here. He was used to all the prejudice that was in the British wizarding world and wasn't quite sure what to do now that it wasn't there.

In England the people were tense and suspicious of everyone else; it was like they were always waiting for something bad to happen. It hadn't mattered if you were in muggle London shopping for a birthday present or in Diagon Alley looking for a new broom or even in Knockturn Alley looking for the newest thing on the black market _everyone_ seemed to be tense and on alert. The muggles thought that terrorists were attacking while the wizarding world knew the truth was that the Death Eaters had taken the war a step further and were openly attacking anyone in their way and the other magical races were stuck in the middle with both sides attacking them. In retaliation to the Death Eaters the Ministry of Magic started cracking down with strong policies on anything considered Dark. People who once fought on the Light side were now being hunted down and killed because they were 'dark' creatures; this in turn made other magical creatures fear the wizards so they started retreating from the wizarding world.

But here in Sunrae Plaza it was like nothing of the sort had ever happened to these people. At first London was angry, here were these people carefree and not worrying about anything while he and everyone he had known were in constant danger of being attacked. He quickly realized that there was no point in being angry with people simply because of their ignorance or their place of residence and tried to figure out how he would survive once the Death Eaters moved to America. He figured that by the time he was done with his shopping he would know exactly where the most defended and defendable areas were. When his professors calmed down he asked them where they were supposed to start.

Both of the professors turned to London in surprise. Usually new student were nervous around them and even people who had know them for years were cautious when interrupting them during an argument, an angry werewolf was something no one wanted to be around. This boy just talked to them like he was bored, without any concern for his own well being. They didn't know what to do, they both looked at the other for advice and finding none started off towards the bank. Gin looked over at London and saw the boy following so she decided to get some answers.

"How can you ignore our behavior? It is completely unacceptable for us to be behaving in such a manor around a new student and if I were with anyone else I would promise you that you would never see such actions again. I would however like to apologize to you for my behavior but I find that I have no manors when I'm around that great lummox."

Shane looked back and grunted at the lummox comment but said he wished to apologize as well. He explained that they hadn't been getting along very well lately and that it was still no excuse for their behavior. After his apology he went back to leading them down the road though it was obvious that he was waiting for an answer to Gin's question. London shrugged and explained as best he could.

"Well that's cause ya ain't serious in yer arguin' ya sound more frustrated then anythin'. Asides that it ain't none of my business why yer disagreein."

Shane nodded but Gin arched an eyebrow at his continued usage of improper grammar. She asked London if he would mind speaking more clearly since it was hard for her to understand him. Since he head to talk properly for school he told her that he wouldn't mind.

"Thanks. I was also wondering if you knew that it was a bad idea to interrupt an angry werewolf. I know that we both do get frustrated and angry at each other when we are arguing and sometimes one or both of us have snapped and done something stupid when someone interrupted us. I promise that we will be on our best behavior for you but be careful next time ok."

London looked thoughtful for a moment and wondered why she was telling him to be careful. He decided that she was probably worried he would get hurt and they would get in trouble so he thought it would be best to reassure her.

"No worries I might not be able to stop him yet but if I ever get a werewolf mad at me I can always kill them."

The casual way that he said it made the hairs on the back of Gin's neck stand up. It didn't sound cocky or anything like that it just sounded like he was stating a fact. She looked over to see how Shane had reacted and was surprised to see the thoughtful look on his face; he was obviously taking the boy seriously.

"And how exactly would you kill a werewolf my size that was angry at you?" Shane asked sounding interested.

London punched Shane in the chest right were his heart was and Shane froze. Gin was worried at first but then she noticed that London still had his fist pressed to Shane's chest and the man was just still, not injured.

"Liquid silver would have been injected straight to your heart if I hadn't stopped it. It's very fast and very effective so if I'm quick I don't have to worry about too many injuries."

London pulled his fist back and Gin saw a streak of silver slip up his sleeve.

"Of course the needle is also pure silver so you might want to take it easy for a little bit since it was in your heart."

Shane nodded and told London that he couldn't wait to get him in Defense class. London had a small smile on his face and he looked a little eager himself. Gin looked at the two and laughed, she couldn't help it the two of them were so caught up in their talk of fighting. After a few minutes of watching them talk Gin decided it was time to interrupt them so they could continue on to the bank. The two kept talking about different tactics they had both come up with when facing different situations as they continued on their way until they reached a large white stone building that had the word 'Gringotts' on it. Shane led them up to the doors but stopped and turned to London.

"This is the bank. I'm not sure how much exposure you've had to different magical races but Gringotts is run by goblins so please try not to stare." Shane told London.

"I've met goblins before don't worry. Other then goblins I've only met a few magical races so you'll have to give me a warning before hand if there is going to be something new."

They went inside the marble building and got into a line behind a man that looked to be a muggle. There were two more people in front of the muggle man so Gin took the time to explain about the bank to London. She told him about the money system and what exactly would happen when the goblins tested him. While she was explaining the line was moving and by the time she finished with what he should expect it was their turn. Shane walked up to the goblin that was behind the counter and asked to see someone who could check if London had a family vault or not. The goblin snapped his fingers and a smaller goblin appeared. This goblin seemed a lot more timid then the others that were at the counters. He seemed to be something like a servant instead of an actual employee.

The new goblin gestured for London to follow him and lead the way down through a complex maze of hallways finally ending in front of what looked like an office. They entered the office and London noticed the silvery items placed on the desk. The goblin behind the desk looked important as he was dressed in expensive cloths. As he heard the click of the door closing the goblin gestured for him to come closer. The goblin picked up a dagger and a shallow bowl off the desk and placed them in front of London.

"You need to cut your palm and fill the bowl with your blood. I will then use it for a summoning ritual and we will see if you have a family vault here."

As the goblin was explaining London took the dagger and cut his palm and watched as the blood flowed into the bowl. When the bowl was mostly full he closed his hand and brought it to his mouth. He licked the wound and watched as it healed. The goblin, who had introduced himself as Stoneblood, picked up a vile of purple and blue swirling liquid which he then poured into the bowl. As he was doing this Stoneblood was also chanting in the goblin language. As soon as Stoneblood stopped chanting four keys appeared on his desk in the bowl where the blood used to be. The goblin looked surprised to see them and he looked up at London suspiciously. When London asked him what was wrong Stoneblood shook his head and started explaining about the keys.

"Nothing I suppose since I'm sure that I preformed the ritual correctly. It's just rather interesting that you would have these particular keys appear." Stoneblood picked up the keys and went on to explain. "These keys open the Slytherin, Potter, Black and Eldicar vaults. All of these vaults are from very prestigious families and none of them are related which is what I find interesting since the ritual was supposed to determine only a family vault."

London just shrugged and asked if Stoneblood wanted to redo the ritual to see if there was indeed a mistake but the goblin shook his head and said that he was sure it would come up the same. Stoneblood handed the keys over to London and told him that it would probably be for the best if he didn't tell people which vaults were his or how many he had since the family names where all so well known. He also asked, out of what he said was purely curiosity, what London's real name was. London considered the goblin for a moment before deciding that it wouldn't hurt to answer the question since he didn't know anyway.

"I don't know my real name. All I know is that my parents are dead and I was sent to live with my muggle relatives."

Stoneblood's eyes widened when he heard the word muggle. He knew that the only one of the families that would have allowed muggle relations were the Potters and their baby was the savior of the wizarding world even if he was presumed dead. His eyes flickered up to look at London's forehead but couldn't distinguish a lightning bolt shape among the scars on his face.

"Do you happen to have a lightning bolt shaped scar on your forehead? I can't see since you have that other set going across your face."

London absently ran his fingers across the three lines that went diagonally down his face. The first one started a little past his hairline, leaving a mark in his short black hair, to continue going down his temple and a bit on his neck while the other two ran over his eye to stop at his jaw. At the start of the lower two was another scar though it was obscured and blended in with the other.

"Yes I had one shaped like that but it has blended with my scar from an encounter with a werewolf. How did you know?"

The goblin nodded. He had thought that the wizards would have placed him somewhere safer then with muggles but that wasn't his concern. Since he was a Gringotts employee his concern was the money in the vaults and this boy currently had four very important vaults in his possession.

"Well that's easy to explain. I knew about the scar because the Potters had a child that should be about your age and you got that scar by defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort. You are quite famous in the wizarding world for that by the way though you were presumed dead a year ago."

London blinked then he blinked again and just stared for a good five minutes before finally coming to his senses. He laughed a little and then said that it figured. He told Stoneblood that he expected the goblin to keep silent about his identity and exactly which vaults he had acquired.

"I want a way to access the money in all of my vaults without having to come back here and I also want a complete inventory of what is in each vault. You are to be the only one that knows my real name and which vaults I have. The next time you see me make sure you remember that my name is London."

Stoneblood watched the boy cautiously for a moment before agreeing. He had felt slightly like he was being threatened but the boy had done nothing overtly threatening so the goblin was a little confused. He decided that he didn't want to chance it and that he would take precautions when dealing with the young vampire.

"There is a money pouch that will let you have access to your vaults no matter where you are. It costs twenty five galleons but I suppose that you don't mind the price. I can also give you the inventory you requested though it will take me a few minutes to get them if you will wait here I can get them both for you now."

London told Stoneblood that he would wait and that he appreciated the goblins cooperation. It took about twenty minutes for the goblin to return and in that time London had come to terms with his true identity. He had read some books about the defeat of Voldemort and knew that he was indeed famous but he also knew that he didn't want that fame. It was something that he didn't deserve and therefore he wasn't ever going to use his real name. He was more comfortable as London the street rat then the famous Harry Potter anyway. When Stoneblood came back London took the papers and the pouch and thanked the goblin for his time before heading out the door.

The more timid goblin that had led him to the office was there and they walked back to the entrance in silence. As soon as they got to where Shane and Gin were the little goblin left back the way they had came. Gin smiled at him and asked how it went.

"It was fine. I have a vault so the school doesn't have to pay for my stuff."

Shane nodded and turned to head out but Gin looked at him happily and asked if he found out anything about his family. He told her that he found out their names but that was it, he said he didn't really care that much about them since they were dead and there was no real reason to know about them. Gin got a really sad look on her face and her eyes watered a little.

"That's a terrible thing to say. They are your family even if they are dead. Don't you wan to know what they were like? What kind of people they were?"

London looked at her weirdly for a moment before starting off with Shane. Gin fell in step with them and they made their way out into the Plaza to look at the shops.

"They were my family for a very small portion of my life. Before they died and I was sent to live with some relatives a vampire found me and turned me. From then on I didn't consider them my parents. Their son had already died they just weren't willing to accept that. When they died I was sent to some muggle relatives of theirs until I was five and old enough to leave."

Gin looked shocked at what he had said and he turned to Shane for help. He didn't understand why she was reacting like this. Shane looked between the two and shook his head. The werewolf decided to help them both out.

"It is rather useless to explain things like that to her. She is an Elf. Their social structure is so different from anything you would be used to that it's just pointless. Elves are very protective of their families; they would do anything to protect a family member or to preserve the memory of one. To an Elf family is the most important thing in their life." Shane explained though he said the last part a bit bitterly.

Gin noticed his slightly bitter words and told him that werewolves were the same way. They protected the pack at all costs. Surprisingly it was London that answered her while unknowingly preventing an old argument from starting.

"That's not true. Werewolves are nothing like that. Though you were right when you said they protect the pack no matter the cost. If a pack member threatens the safety of the pack by being too reckless or too weak or too stupid or too old or in any other way the alpha will kill the pack member. It's the duty of the pack to protect each other especially the cubs. If there is anyone or anything around that is a threat to the pack it is the alpha's responsibility to remove it or organize the pack to take it out. I don't think that Elves and werewolves are that similar so I'm not sure if you can understand the differences."

London explained it in a way that Gin wasn't offended and she said that she would think about it and try to understand. Shane looked a little surprised both at the fact that Gin was willing to accept that there were such differences and because London had explained it so well. He asked London how he knew so much about werewolves and London replied that he had spent time with some.

They continued on there way with Gin leading them from store to store picking up his school supplies. They had gotten most of his stuff when they came to a clothing store. Gin told him that he was going to need to buy a bunch of clothes and that this was the best place to do so since they carried a wide variety. Since the Academy accepted students from such a varied array of backgrounds there was no particular dress code to follow. He went through the store and took his time picking out clothes that he liked instead of just anything that would help him blend in like he usually did. He ended up getting quite a lot of clothes and was glad that he had already bought a trunk to put everything in. They decided to skip the wand shop since London was a vampire and would be focusing on wandless magic. When they were all done they headed back to the shop they arrived in. Gin pulled out a necklace she was wearing and told them both to grab on. She activated the portkey and they were soon back at the Academy.

As soon as they entered the room they noticed a girl sitting on a chair next to the fireplace reading a book. Gin cleared her throat to get the girls attention. The girl placed a bookmark to keep her place and stood up. She was of oriental decent and looked a little younger then London.

"Hello Professor's, I was told to wait here for you so that I could escort the new student to his room." Looking at London she continued. "Hello, my name is Yuri."

London nodded at her and introduced himself. He took a few minutes to examine her. Yuri only came up to his chin and even though her pink eyes and pink streaked hair gave her a cute look it was obviously that she could take care of herself. _'Hmm…I wonder if she would spar with me. She's a werewolf so she should be able to put up a fight, even if it is just the wolf taking over to attack a vampire.' _

The two students said their goodbyes to the Professors and made their way into the hall. They walked silently down the hall for a few minutes before Yuri broke the quiet with a question.

"Are you an orphan too? That's what Anna says anyway. I am too you know. That's why you're going to be rooming with me and my friends. We're all orphans you know everyone in our rooms anyways. When I first came here it wasn't like that and there were lots of fights 'cause the other students don't understand certain things. Now though all of the orphans are in rooms together you don't mind do ya?"

Yuri stared up at him with a concerned look. London just shook his head; he figured it would be better then rooming with someone that would annoy him. He gave her a little half smile and asked her how many orphans there were.

"Oh, hmm…in our room there will be seven including you, don't worry though the room is huge. With you there will be four boys and three girls. Let's see there are Sunny, Tyler and Allen for the boys and Satsuki, Rachel and me for the girls. Sunny is a vampire like you, Tyler and Rachel are both human, Allen is a were-cat, Satsuki is part fae and well you already know I'm a werewolf. So what do you think? Can you get along with everyone?"

London just shrugged. He wasn't sure how everyone acted so he couldn't say for sure but he knew he wouldn't have a problem with them because of their race except for maybe the humans. He still wasn't sure about humans in general and decided to keep some space from them.

"Well here we are. You have to be keyed into the wards or else you won't be able to enter. Here cut your palm and place your hand on the door and I'll key you in ok."

He placed his bloodied hand against the door and watched as Yuri frowned in concentration. All of a sudden he felt something click and knew she had finished. She looked up at him and smiled. Then she opened the door and led him into his new room.

TBC…

Well here it is finally. Yay! We got to see Dumbledore's reaction to Harry missing. At this point he has no clue that Harry is a vampire or that Vernon was killed by a vampire just that he is dead. He won't find out about the vampire thing for a while. Also there probably won't be much more mentioned about Hogwarts for a while so sorry if you wanted more but Hogwarts will be back later so no worries.

Also sorry about taking so long to get this chapter out but I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do the next few chapters so it might take a little while between posts. Sorry for that but if anyone has _any_ ideas for the next few chapters they are welcomed.


	5. Roommates

**The Circle**

Disclaimer: I own nothing...thank you for not suing.

'_Thoughts'_

**Parsletounge **

Mind Speech

"**Foreign Language"**

"Regular Speech"

Last Chapter:

_"Well here we are. You have to be keyed into the wards or else you won't be able to enter. Here cut your palm and place your hand on the door and I'll key you in ok."_

_He placed his bloodied hand against the door and watched as Yuri frowned in concentration. All of a sudden he felt something click and knew she had finished. She looked up at him and smiled. Then she opened the door and led him into his new room._

Chapter 5: Roommates

The room was huge. They were in what looked like the common room area with the kitchen off to the left and a sleeping area to the right, straight in front of them seemed to be a small study area with desks and books. Sitting around a table were two boys, one with chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes while the other had acid green hair and bright blue eyes, and a girl, with light brown hair and piercing yellow eyes. They stopped what they were doing and looked up at the two newcomers. Yuri bounced into the middle of the room and started the introductions. Pointing first to the boy with brown hair then to the one with green and ending with the girl.

"This is Tyler, Sunny and Rachel. Guys this is London, he's our new roommate. Oh yeah, he's also a vampire just so you guys know and I already told him what everyone was so there shouldn't be any surprises." Turning to look at London she pointed to the kitchen and said, "In there is the kitchen and tonight it's Satsuki and Allen's turn to cook so that's were they are. Are you any good at cooking?"

London told them that he had lived on the streets for the past eight years and any cooking skills he had acquired before then had disappeared. Yuri nodded saying she had thought as much since that was how most of them had been when they first arrived. She told him not to worry about it because they would teach him everything he would need to know.

Tyler gestured to a chair and told him that he should sit down so they could tell him about the school. As everyone took their seats Yuri brought the two that were in the kitchen out for more introductions. Allen had sandy brown hair, golden eyes with cat-like pupils and was a few inches taller then Yuri despite his being a year younger. Satsuki, on the other hand, was about the same height as Yuri even though she was a few years older. She had deep purple eyes which stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin with straight sky blue hair that reached to her waist.

Noticing how tense London was everyone remembered how it was when they had first arrived and decided it would be best if they went around and told a bit about themselves to make him more comfortable. Once everyone was introduced and seated Yuri started talking. She explained that she had been at the Academy for five years which was the longest out of all of them.

"My parents were killed by the ministry of magic for being werewolves when I was two years old. After that I was sent to an orphanage where the kids were abused. Somehow when I was almost seven I got adopted by this wonderful looking couple. Unfortunately they weren't that wonderful and ended up hurting me. It took me a few months but I eventually managed to run away. I decided that living on the streets had to be better then that. Lucky for me a Professor found me and brought me here."

Yuri looked around at the others and was happy to see that no one was looking at her with pity. She couldn't stand it when someone felt sorry for her and was glad that she was with people that understood. It had been on of the reasons that she got in fights with the other students. When it became clear that the fights were unnecessary they decided to provide her and others in her situation with their own room.

They had decided that it would be best to go in the order that they arrived at the Academy. They had all seen how London watched the humans. It was obvious that he didn't like them but since they were sharing a room they hoped that when Rachel told her story it would help them get along better. Rachel sat up and looked at the others before starting her story.

"I lived with my family in the wizarding world until I was nine. That was when the Death Eaters attacked. They killed everyone except for a few of us. We were taken to a manor house and put in the dungeons. The Death Eaters came everyday to torture us. I was somehow able to complete an animagus transformation after being there for a few months and I escaped but stayed in my animagus form for the next three years. It was a lot simpler as a bird and it didn't hurt as much so I never considered turning back until I met one of the Professors. He convinced me that it would be for the best and he promised that I could come here so I worked on changing back to a human. When I changed back my eyes had turned yellow and my bones weren't as dense as they should be but I use it as a reminder to what happened so I don't mind."

Rachel finished her story up and turned to Allen since he was next. She didn't know if knowing about her past would help London to get along with her but she hoped it would at least help. Allen nodded at her and took a deep breath.

"Well my story isn't as dramatic as the others. I lived in an orphanage until last year when I was ten and a Professor brought me here."

Allen looked around grinning at everyone. Tyler shook his head at his friend's tactics. It was just like him to say something like that. Unfortunately for Allen Yuri had also caught on and decided that it would be best to get everything out in the open.

"Sorry Allen but that's not all and you know it. Look I know that you don't think what happened was all that bad but they really had no right to treat you or the others like that. Please tell London what happened. It really will make things easier if we all knew the basics of everyone's past."

Looking around at everyone Allen realized that they were all serious and didn't really see any harm in it so he continued his story. He told them all that at the orphanage there was rarely enough food for everyone and that the kids had to fight to get a share of anything. If you couldn't fight then you went cold and hungry and eventually died. He also made sure to tell everyone that he was glad that he lived there since now he knew how to survive when he needed to. The others accepted this since they all felt similar about their own pasts. Tyler was up next and he decided to follow Allen's example and keep things short.

"I grew up on the streets. I learned to survive there for fourteen years until one of the Professors found me. Saw me throwing someone into a wall with a stolen wand. I was brought here a few months ago."

Wanting to hear about London's past Sunny started talking soon after Tyler stopped. He was curious as to how the other boy had dealt with his turning and what he planned to do about it. The Professors had told him that representatives from different vampire clans would be coming to speak with him soon and he wasn't sure he could handle that alone. Now that London was here they would probably want to speak with him too.

"Well like Rachel I had a family until I was about eight. They were killed by a vampire who wanted me. After he killed my family he turned me and took me with him. I was with him for four year when Vivian found me. She took me from my sire and helped me accept the fact that I was a vampire. Actually I think he and a few others are coming to the Academy soon to speak with me though now that you are here they would most likely want to speak with you as well London."

Sunny spoke the last part while looking at the other vampire. London just nodded and said that he would be happy to speak with them. It seemed that he had made peace with what he was long ago. Sunny was still happy that there was someone his age that was like him. Seeing as everyone else had already talked about themselves London decided to tell them a bit about himself.

"I was turned as an infant. My human parents and my sire were killed soon after and I was sent to some muggle relatives. They didn't know how to take care of a vampire though and I ended up killing the husband. I lived on the streets since then until I met a pair of Professors."

Yuri smiled at him and said that since they were now properly introduced they should all eat some dinner. Satsuki and Allen headed back into the kitchen for a few minutes when they came back out with food. Looking at London he said that the school provided blood for vampires and handed over a glass filled with the red liquid.

London sniffed the blood before giving an almost silent groan. Sunny heard him though and asked what was wrong. When London told him that blood tasted best when taken straight from a human neck, animal blood just couldn't compare. Sunny looked surprised and a little grossed out.

"You honestly enjoy drinking blood? Doesn't it bother you at all?"

Surprised at the question London looked Sunny over and then actually thought about the question for a minute. Thinking back on it he realized that he had basically been born drinking blood since he couldn't remember never doing it while Sunny had several years' worth of memories about being a human.

"No it's never bothered me but like I said I was turned as an infant. I don't actually remember being human. To me drinking blood is natural. You have to realize that you're a vampire now; no matter what memories you may have that say otherwise. You are dead now. It will get easier the older you get don't worry."

While London's words didn't exactly put him at ease it did give Sunny something to think about. He knew that he was different now but no one had actually came out and said that he was dead. Thinking about it made it seem a bit easier. If he could think like that then he wouldn't feel so bad about drinking blood. It had always bothered him because he would think of his parents whenever he smelled blood but if he had died then maybe it would be ok to stop thinking like that. After all their son had died with them and he was a vampire now, someone else. It was a relief to put aside his guilt for a while so he could enjoy his meal for the first time.

Soon after dinner everyone went to bed. All of the beds were in the same room but there hadn't been enough time to put one in for London. He said that it was ok since he was more comfortable on the floor and found himself a place to lie down between Sunny and Yuri who were also on the floor.

The next morning Sunny and London were awake before anyone else so they decided to continue their conversation about being a vampire from the night before. Since the two vampires don't need anywhere near the amount of sleep as the others they talked for a few hours. When the others got up they saw the two going over the class schedule.

* * *

Time------------------Mon, Wed, Fri---------------------Tue, Thu, Sat-------------Sunday

6:00-9:00------------Defense-----------------------------Defence---------------------Defense

9:15-11:15----------Magical Theory----------------------Herbology----------------Magical History

11:30-1:30----------Charms---------------------------Reading/Writing------------Muggle History

1:30-2:30-----------Break--------------------------------Break----------------------Break

2:30-4:30----------Transfiguration-----------------------Math---------------------Independent Study

4:45-6:45-----------Potions-------------------------------Science-----------------Independent Study

* * *

Since Sunny and Tyler would be in the same classes as London they all set off together. When they reached the Defense area Shane came up and greeted them.

"I've been looking forward to this class all night. Well lets see what you can do London. I'll pair you with Valkyn for the sparring part of class. Right now I want you to get in line with everyone else and get ready to run."

Shane pointed over to the rest of the class so they could get in position. Both Sunny and Tyler gave London their sympathies as they explained that Valkyn was at the head of their class and he would likely get his ass kicked. With a shout from Shane the students all started in on their morning run. After running they went through stretches and then Shane set them forms to work through. After about two hours everyone paired off and began sparring.

When Shane saw that London, Sunny and Tyler were working in a group of three he called to his top student and told him to pair off with the new boy. Valkyn was a vampire as well so they should be a good match. Everyone else stopped what they were doing to watch the match. Since Valkyn had been tutored all his life in fighting they thought Shane was being unfair in pairing the two together. Most of them knew by now that their teacher was always trying to prove a point and made sure none of his students got too full of themselves.

Valkyn walked up to London and explained that they were to spar. The two vampires squared off and waited for the signal to begin. As soon as Shane shouted 'begin' Valkyn went forward and threw a kick aimed at London's face. London caught his leg and pushed him off balance making them both fall to the ground. When they didn't get up people started to notice the blade pressed against Valkyn's throat.

Shane smiled. It was just how he had expected it to turn out. London was straddling Valkyn's chest and had a blade as long as his forearm pressed into the other boy's neck.

"Alright London, you won, let him up. Now can anyone tell me how Valkyn lost?"

He looked around to see if anyone would offer up an answer and was surprised when he saw Tyler's hand in the air. The human boy had mostly kept to himself since he arrived only talking to his new roommates. Tyler had never volunteered an answer in class before. He called on the boy and was surprised when he answered correctly.

"Valkyn was taught how to fight by tutors but has never been in an actual life and death situation. London had to learn how to fight to stay alive. He has been fighting in life threatening situations his entire life."

Nodding Shane looked around at the other students to make sure they had understood. It was always difficult for the other students to understand that the orphans had vastly different experiences then they did. He hoped this demonstration would help reinforce any warnings that would be made about the newest students.

TBC…


End file.
